Loch Ailort ( ;
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
: Loch Ailleart) is a sea
loch
''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...
in
Morar,
Lochaber
Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...
,
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Loch Ailort is a shallow, V-shaped loch, with the small
Ardnish Peninsula on the north side, and the large, southwest-facing
Moidart Peninsula to the south.
Ailort, Loch Loch Ailort is bounded in the northeast by the settlement of the same name,
Lochailort and in the west, opening out into the
Sound of Arisaig. To the north of the loch lies
Loch nan Uamh.
Geography
The northern coastline is overlooked by the hill Cruach an Aonaich, that is situated at the centre of the V shape of the loch, and the ridge of An t Aonach which follows the coastline northeast to the edge of the loch, where the ridge flattens out to sea level. The southern coastline is dominated by the fine, cone-shaped former volcano of
An Stac, which is a
Corbett and overlooks Lochailort to the north. Further behind An Stac to south, and overlooking the great expanse of the sea loch, is the west-facing ridge that is made up of the Sgurr na Ba Glaise in the east followed by
Rois-bheinn and Cruach Doir'an Raoigh, which are also, all Corbetts.
Islands
Loch Ailort has a number of islands. At the entrance to the loch is two islands. Eilean nan Gobhar, or Eilean na Gour at the south of the loch mouth, and the other is Eilean รก Chaolis. Eilean nan Gobhar, is famous for two
vitrified forts.
Eilean Nan Gobhar Further to the west lies the island of Eilean Buidhe, which lies at the centre of the channel and marks the point the sea loch turns northeast, for the upswing of the V shape. Further northeast, and visible from the village of
Lochailort is the small mid channel island grouping of Eilean Dubh.
Settlements
Loch Ailort is remote and its coastline is only sparsely populated. At the head of the loch lies the hamlet of
Lochailort. To the north, the Ardnish peninsula is mostly empty, apart from the occasional farmhouse or hunting lodge. The southern coastline contains
Alisary in the east and
Roshven in the west. Further west, lying outside the mouth of the sea loch, lies the hamlet of
GlenuigOrdnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
(2011
"Get-a-map"
Retrieved 30 October 2011.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailort
Lochs of Highland (council area)
Sea lochs of Scotland